Cannonball Read 2.0_01: Something from the Nightside - Simon R. Green

I've only spent weeks mentally preparing myself for the Cannonball Read, only of find myself in the first week, completely stymied by a book that simply wasn't very interesting.

I am a big fan and constant consumer of most of the early entries into the "urban fantasy" genre. I specify "early entries" because you will not find a lot of copycats on the supermarket and rug store racks, and most of them aren't much good. All of the vampires and werewolves have been taken.

"Something from the Nightside" starts off with such a derivative steal from Hammett and Sam Spade that I very nearly dropped it and took up something else. Naturally it starts off in a seedy detective's office, where he also lives, and naturally, a dame walks in and the case begins.

The PI in our case, Taylor, promises something different but it is quite a while before we get there. Instead of Chandler's "mean streets", however, we are given "the Nightside", and alternate reality in the middle of London where it is always 3am and raining, and where every single interdimensional and magical beastie can make their home in an urban setting. Taylor, himself, plays like a Harry Potter gone to seed.

It is fun to watch Taylor, in his white trenchcoat, make his way through this twisted landscape, which resembles nothing so much as a low-down version of Rowling's "Diagon Alley", and encounter everything from time travel through alternate realities, and Lovecraftian beasts-from-beyond, and everyone and everything has good reason to want you dead.

It is obvious that "Something from the Nightside" is intended as the opening of the series, and luckily I was fascinated enough by the Nightside to want to explore future stories, but there is not much besides knowing that to take you through to the next book. There are ten books in the Nightside series, however, so I'm sure that I will look into more of them.

Pajiba's Cannonball Read - 52 books, 52 reviews.
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Nobel Peace Prize

President Barack Obama wins Nobel Peace Prize

OSLO - President Barack Obama won the 2009 Nobel Peace Prize on Friday for "his extraordinary efforts to strengthen international diplomacy and cooperation between peoples," the Norwegian Nobel Committee said, citing his outreach to the Muslim world and attempts to curb nuclear proliferation.

Attaturk: "I guess Krauthammer was right, the international regard for the United States has so fallen after Obama became President that they just awarded our Chief Executive the Nobel Peace Prize."

Oliver Willis: "Congrats to the President for this honor, another turn of the page from the failed warmongering failure of the last 8 years of U.S. foreign policy."

I may criticize the man (from the left) for his centrist tendencies, but only in the fever dream of deranged righ-winger has he failed to complete represent the dreams and hopes of the American people. A proud accomplishment.
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Brooklyn Tech Students Turn Out — And Westboro Leaves

Students Turn Out — And Westboro Leaves :

As school let out this afternoon, picketers from Westboro Baptist Church, a scabrously anti-gay group from Topeka, gathered outside Brooklyn Tech to spread the gospel found on their site godhatesfags.com and, according to their schedule (since updated), to “teach the rebels of Brooklyn what good looks like, and you had better behave.”

But outnumbered by nearly 200 Tech students, the Westboro protesters, escorted by police officers, left the corner of Fort Greene Place and Fulton Street at 3:45, 15 minutes earlier than scheduled. (The protest had been slated for 3:20 p.m. to 4 p.m.)

Oh, think you're going to mess with Brooklyn Tech? Oh, thou sad deluded fools.

Oh, and this?



Is awesome!
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Haters

President McCain will be on my teevee yet again on Sunday.

It dawned on me this morning - I don't give a shit any more about those people who refuse to admit that they lost the election last year. Seriously, bored with them, annoyed with them - fuck them.

I don't care if they are corporatists, fascists, or racists - they lost the election last year. Period.
It's not rage we should be feeling, it's contempt. 80% of Americans support the President - the 20-percenters can go jump off a cliff. Sooner than later, please.

Monday Morning...

I do believe that I said that Obama wasted three months letting the Thugs get traction on any damn thing, much less health care.

Curiously, Maureen Dowd seems to get it. Yes, dear - that IS why they hate him.

He isnt really losing the "white" vote. He's losing squishy Dems who weren't really thrilled with him to begin with, but thought that he would kick some Republican ass. That they happen to be largely white is just incidental demographics.

The Overhead Wire: Heeey!!! Houston Gets a FONSI

The Overhead Wire: Heeey!!! Houston Gets a FONSI

"Houston gets into the final design phase for two of its five light rail lines and gets development codes changed to promote pedestrian access to the stations. Not bad for the Texas home of oil industry giants."

Loneliness, Murder, and Insanity - Reporting on the Sodini Incident

Speaking of "lonely" - how is the MSM getting away with NOT discussing that the Lonely Guy Killer was particularly incensed over

1) "The president is a Ni*CLANG*", naturally, and
2) black men in general getting the "hos" to which he felt entitled?

This was another right-wing killing spree:

Joan Walsh at Salon:

In a related tangent, I was stunned by Editor and Publisher's report that AP, the New York Times and other news organizations quoted liberally from Pittsburgh health club murderer George Sodini's diaries, but left out his racist diatribes against Obama. The diary in fact began the day after Obama was elected, and Sodini wrote, "Good luck to Obama! He will be successful. The liberal media LOVES him. Amerika has chosen The Black Man." He then goes on to complain that white "hoes" are choosing black men over him...

E&P: AP Omits Killer's Obama References

The diary focuses on his problems with women and other worries, but also has some comments about the "liberal media," the "Obama economy" -- and it opens with remarks about last fall's election, the election of "The Black Man" and jokes about black men and white women. All left out of the AP excerpts and nearly everywhere else...

The MSM is framing this as another random spree killer, but this is part and parcel of the upsurge of right-wing rage killings. This one is so ugly that the press is ready to lie about it and cover it up.

I understand being being lonely, and I understand being bitter, but this kind of rage? Comes from somewhere else entirely.
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Sotomayor Confirmed By Senate

You LOST, Thugs.

You lost on the stimulus. You lost on C4C. You lost on Franken. You lost on Sotomayor. You LOST.

Harry needs to get health care on the floor STAT. Let the beatings continue until morale is improved.
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"Enough of the Mob"

DNC WebAd: "Enough of the Mob":



There is a reason that I always call them "Thugs" : Republicans Are Evil™.

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Jennifer Aniston Making Lonely Look Good

Elle landed Jennifer Aniston for their big September issue, but don't worry, you needn't pity the poor, single actress.

"I'm not going to ignore the pink elephant in the living room. It's fine. I can take it," she says of how it's hard to find a decent man in this town—and once you do, they just leave you for some way hot, tattooed, child-collecting superstar.

"If I'm the emblem for 'this is what it looks like to be the lonely girl getting getting on with her life,' so be it."


If SHE's "lonely" then the rest of us mere humans have NO shot at all...





And here's Jennifer on the set of her new movie, looking damn fine:

They're Looking for a Hero...

THE UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF MOB HARASSMENT.... :

"...It's probably the one angle the corporate interests and their lobbyists haven't considered: the unintended consequences of rallying confused right-wing activists to shout down policymakers who'll improve their health care coverage"

They keep thinking that they can control these right-wing assholes, and they can't.

Very soon, these fools are going to find themselves a demagogue who isn't about lining his own pockets and isn't under somebody else's thumb and then we're off to the races.

"This is not to say all opponents of reform are radical extremists."

Yeah, they are.

"Obviously, those concerned about the reform proposals go beyond fringe, unhinged activists."

No, they dont.
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Medicare for All

Atrios : "...it's quite amazing the degree to which people talk about health care while ignoring the fact that a large percentage of our population - mostly, but not just, seniors - don't already pay for their health care with a government run insurance program."

(From earlier today, not that you noticed, Atrios)

Medicare works so well, that a great many wingers don't even think of it as a government plan, teh morans. So:

Medicare for All: No charge for over 55, under 18, and up to, say 400% of poverty level. Everyone else can buy in, or not, through employers.
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Back Into Form

I'm trying to get back into form before I take on the next phase of this verdammnt college business.

So: If you've ever read Slow Roasted, or any one of my screeds, and thought it worthwhile, a spot on your blogroll would be appreciated, and of course, the same in return.

http://meander61.blogspot.com/

Thank you.
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Skating Babies

Because it's cute, dammit...

The Story Behind the Skating Babies : How an Evian Ad on YouTube Went Viral, And the CGI Whizzes Who Made It...


(CBS) According to a Pew survey, more than one out of five adult Americans still don't use the internet. What are they missing? Well, as CBS News correspondent Mark Phillips reports, they're missing the skating babies.


It's a simple formula. Take babies. Put 'em on skates. Add music. Watch the internet hits take off.


The latest viral ad sensation has become the talk of the water cooler crowd, which is just as well as it's for a French bottled water company.


Over six million hits since its release last weekend - almost three million in the U.S. alone. It's rolling toward rarified territory, the 20 million-plus hits that only the lucky few viral ads get to...



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Unnecessary drama, Part III

So if things weren't bad enough, The Dreadful Bear calls me.

"Wow", she says, "This is going to be pretty bad, huh?"

I was apprehensive, since I had just given her phone number to yet another collection agency today - she has a bad habit of using me as a credit reference without my permission. As if we were friends or something.

I give them her current phone number in exchange for leaving me alone. They're still calling, and she's not in jail yet. Damn.

"What do you mean?", I asked.

"The Michael Jackson thing - this is going to be bad, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?", I repeated. It pays to be cautious with the Bear.

"This is going to be all over the news for WEEKS!"

"well, yes, I'm afraid so..." I was looking for an angle to get off the phone at this point.

"There was this lawyer on Nancy Grace, and he was saying..."

"Stop right there. There is nothing on Nancy Grace that I need to hear about."

"I know you hate her..."

"I don't hate her. She's a liar. Everything on her show is a lie," I said.

The Bear tried to walk it back, since she clearly needed someone to talk to. "But it wasn't her, this lawyer was calling in, and..."

"Let me be clear here - anything that anybody says on Nancy Grace's show is either a lie, or will be proven wrong within 48 hours. Anything else?"

"Uh, no..."

"I have things to do - good night."
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